Transformers references in other media

[griffin]

Transformers just got a bad rap in this article about loot boxes ruining lives:

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/progra...-boxes/9485856

How can someone spend $50,000 on a game app (which gives them nothing in return to show for it)... and not think that they have a problem after just $100.

[UltraMarginal]

I agree that loot boxes in games are designed to be addictive and are an attractive form of 'gambling' available to whoever plays. but I also agree that these people clearly have a problem and should have stopped long before they got in the spot they are in, regardless of the other traumas in their lives at the time.

Whether it's something that needs to be legislated is up for debate. I'm pretty sure you can set locks on these games that don't allow the user to automatically spend money on in game purchases so that parents don't have kids blow out their cards.

[BigTransformerTrev]

Transformers just got a bad rap in this article about loot boxes ruining lives:

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/progra...-boxes/9485856

How can someone spend $50,000 on a game app (which gives them nothing in return to show for it)... and not think that they have a problem after just $100.

Hey, I can understand, the game they are discussing (Earth Wars) is the game app I have spent more on than any other.

Of course that equals a whopping $7.99

And even then the only reason I did it was I pressed the wrong button one day and wasted 6 months worth of cyber coins I’d hoarded, so in a once-off shelled out a whopping eight bucks and replaced them.

I have been a member of Alliances where the top players bitch about how they spend so much each event on recharges (often up to $150) and the rest of us don’t - but it’s their choice, and frankly a silly one

[DELTAprime]

For anyone not up with the latest in gaming, loot boxes are a big issue in games right now. Star Wars Battlefront II (the one from EA released last November not the one from a decade ago) has predatory loot boxes and subsequently various governments and groups have woken up to their use in games.

Some people argue that they are a form of gambling and need to be regulated (note that nobody with half a brain is banned but rather "regulated").

Others argue that because you get an in game item not money they are not gambling and totally ok.

America will probably have a hard time regulating them because of the supreme court ruling in Schwarzenegger V EMA in which video games were declared protected speech which means the government can't regulate them.

However in parts of Europe and here in Australia things look more positive with government bodies recognising loot boxes as gambling and beginning the slow process of updating laws.

[BigTransformerTrev]

For anyone not up with the latest in gaming, loot boxes are a big issue in games right now. Star Wars Battlefront II (the one from EA released last November not the one from a decade ago) has predatory loot boxes and subsequently various governments and groups have woken up to their use in games.

Some people argue that they are a form of gambling and need to be regulated (note that nobody with half a brain is banned but rather "regulated").

Others argue that because you get an in game item not money they are not gambling and totally ok.

America will probably have a hard time regulating them because of the supreme court ruling in Schwarzenegger V EMA in which video games were declared protected speech which means the government can't regulate them.

However in parts of Europe and here in Australia things look more positive with government bodies recognising loot boxes as gambling and beginning the slow process of updating laws.

There was a South Park episode about it all many years ago, as Stan got addicted and kept doing all these little transactions which added up to thousands of dollars.

Sadly though, its these addicted people that make the games possible for the rest of us. The game designers need the money to make them and keep going with the updates, and if people aren't playing the games die, much like a few previous TF app games have done.

I think I've heard it said that 95% of the profits from these app games only comes from 5% of the players. Again, sad for them but if they were not doing so then people that never spend money on their apps like me wouldn't get to keep playing.

It's one of the very few cases where instead of the minority spoiling things for the majority, the minority actually make it possible for the majority to have their fun.

[Lint]

Sadly though, its these addicted people that make the games possible for the rest of us.

I think the gaming world was acceptable prior to the microtransaction phenomenon. If anything the addicted people have created a glut of mediocre games and have lured a fair few quality development houses towards mediocrity.

[UltraMarginal]

I'd much rather have a great game that I pay a set amount for that comes with all it's features and elements enabled, or at least enablable by playing the game.
Happy to buy expansion packs that actually contain more gameplay but this microtrasaction rubbish has got to slow down, it's becoming the core of so many games it's not funny anymore.

[BigTransformerTrev]

I think the gaming world was acceptable prior to the microtransaction phenomenon. If anything the addicted people have created a glut of mediocre games and have lured a fair few quality development houses towards mediocrity.

Oh I agree, but it seems to be the price of being able to download a game for free on your phone or ipad - that somewhere along the line they are going to figure out a way to get people to shell out some moula

I'd much rather have a great game that I pay a set amount for that comes with all it's features and elements enabled, or at least enablable by playing the game.
Happy to buy expansion packs that actually contain more gameplay but this microtrasaction rubbish has got to slow down, it's becoming the core of so many games it's not funny anymore.

That's why I like console games, and I've never been one for DLC purchases.
The exception and annoying thing for me is you can purchase DLC for DOAX3 on the PS4 in other countries but it doesn't work here - I'd buy some of the extras for that just to skip the grinding

The Sims 2 & 3 on PC had a lot of good expansion packs, but most didn't rate purchase until they dropped in price after a year